The future's looking bright! LED (light emitting diodes) lights have played a major role in prominent U.S. displays in Washington, D.C. and New York City this holiday season. The National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. was illuminated by LED lights and both the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and the New Year's Eve Ball were lit by LEDs too (to see a video on the New Year's Eve Ball check out the one on blip.tv)! With such prominent national exposure, the nation as a whole is sure to follow their examples as the year progresses!
What is the basic difference between a traditional incandescent light bulb and an LED light? An incandescent light emits light because of the electric current that is channeled through a wire filament. Not only does the filament eventually burn out, but also these bulbs waste more energy producing heat than light. An LED on the other hand depends on a small semiconductor chip that produces light through the loss of energy and doesn't waste energy through the production of unnecessary heat. The chip is much more durable than the fragile filament, so the consumer saves money because of the LED's longer life.
For an example of the LED's energy-efficiency and longevity, let's look at the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. According to GE Consumer and Industrial lighting designer Kathy Presciano in a USA Today article (December, 20 2007): "...the traditional 26-light strings burned at 125 watts and lasted for about 1,000 hours. 'The same size string in LED lasts 20,000 hours and burns at 2.3 watts' ".
Wouldn't it be great to not have to finagle with those incandescent Christmas lights every year, trying to figure out which bulb burned out? Try out LED Christmas lights next holiday season!
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